Faculty, students and staff from The Evergreen State College gathered Wednesday afternoon for a Re-Convocation Rally to urge healing and open conversations following last spring's controversies that prompted protests, threats of violence and close Tony Overmantoverman@theolympian.com

Faculty, students and staff from The Evergreen State College gathered Wednesday afternoon for a Re-Convocation Rally to urge healing and open conversations following last spring's controversies that prompted protests, threats of violence and close Tony Overmantoverman@theolympian.com

But racial tension at the college had been brewing for months, interrupting last year’s convocation and a ceremony dedicating a remodeled building to former president Les Purce, as well as a would-be swearing-in ceremony for the former campus police chief.

Wednesday's event was organized by a group called Staff and Faculty Acting for Equity.

“We believe that our success as members of a community is dependent not only on ourselves, but on the success of the most vulnerable,” the group wrote in a news release.

“We acknowledge the particular strengths of and challenges faced by first-generation, Black and Brown, undocumented, Latinx, trans*, queer, veteran, and disabled students who have been traditionally underserved by higher education. We strive to center their voices as we move toward more equitable outcomes for all our students.”